Archery bows have been in use for centuries for various purposes including hunting, target shooting and the like. In recent years, various attempts have been made to increase the speed of the arrows by using shorter and lighter arrows but the use of shorter arrows has presented the problem that the forward tip of the arrow is subject to being drawn rearwardly past the hand grip of the bow. In an attempt to overcome this problem, various so-called overdraw devices have been proposed to allow the short arrow to be drawn rearwardly to a point where the forward tip of the arrow is positioned rearwardly of the bow without disengaging the arrow and while still providing positive guidance for the arrow. Whereas these prior art overdraw systems have achieved varying degrees of success and have been adopted to some extent, each of the prior art systems have suffered from one or more disadvantages. Specifically, the prior art systems have either been too expensive or too complicated relative to the overall cost of the total bow assembly; they have not been successful in providing the desired added speed for the shorter arrows; or they have introduced safety factors which endanger the hand or arm of the user.